


If it makes you happy

by samstoleaburger



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2012), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: Apologies, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, How Do I Tag, I Tried, Mikey is a Good Brother, possible ooc
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-24
Updated: 2017-12-24
Packaged: 2019-02-19 11:16:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13122603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/samstoleaburger/pseuds/samstoleaburger
Summary: Leo decides to hunker down in his room (to sulk) but then Mikey comes in not too long after.





	If it makes you happy

**Author's Note:**

> I watched the 2012 TMNT DVDs I managed to get my hands on during Black Friday (funny how you say you're never doing it again and yet a year later...) and I gotta say, I can dig it. I've got some hang ups, but not enough to entirely bash and/or not enjoy it. Anyway, I saw the Follow the Leader episode and just felt so sorry for Leo. Then I sat back and thought about it long and hard. Which leads to this. Even if it veers off a bit from the original storyline of the episode.
> 
> Also, title credit goes to the Sheryl Crow song I was half-singing in my head as I was rereading this to see if I should, maybe, add more to it or not before positing.

Leo unsheathed his katanas as he moved to sit down on his meditation mat and set one aside while resting the other across his lap. He reached for his cleaning supplies, the action second nature and so routine by now that he didn't put much thought into it. Reach under his bed, pull out the box, flip the cover up, go inside to grab what he needs and get to polishing and refining the edges. A constant, rinse and repeat.  
  
However, he couldn't shake the weight that rested on his chest as he ran his eyes over the words Raph wrote on the blade once more.  
  
The attempt at a training exercise had been a terrible idea and he should've known better than to push, but they had started to slack off while searching for the mutagen. Leo knew it wasn't their fault for that since they had other priorities taking place. Namely Donnie working tirelessly to find a way to cure April's dad, but Leo had hoped that maybe they could have taken the exercise to heart. Instead, they teamed up to not only disobey the rules but to also throw Leo so off balance that he fell off his post.  
  
To add insult to injury, Raph had a marker on him and threw his katana down. Defaced and only making Leo more disappointed by what had happened. Even Splinter couldn't truly console him over this. Not when Raph, Donnie and Mikey laughed as they walked away.  
  
Gritting his teeth, Leo set to work on scrubbing away the writing with a tisk.  
  
He shouldn't have expected any better, now that he thought about it. Mikey had complained about being bored to get them to take a break, stating crystal clear that he wanted to have fun. _Fun_ , not a training session. Not when they were already on a mission. Even Donnie seemed disappointed in the turn of events but Raph's reaction was typical. Not to mention predictable. Leo knew he should've expected repercussions for forcing the issue.  
  
That being said, why was it so hard for them to understand that Splinter trusted him to keep them in line? To keep them in top form and ready for the unexpected? Not to mention the most important: make sure they made it back alive?  
  
The last one was the most frightening thing he'd ever had to deal with. It haunted him at night, especially when there's a close call during patrol.  
  
Raph doesn't seem to understand that Leo isn't lording this over them but Raph just keeps pushing back. Like Leo is trying to stop him from being his own person. Whereas Donnie is content with the arrangement. Though Mikey seems more or less the happiest for Leo being the leader most days. Like he's glad it wasn't 'foisted' on him and as if such responsibility would be too much to handle.  
  
Leo knows that Mikey could lead them if he _tried_. Splinter told him such one morning before the others even reached the waking world. He told him that Mikey could, should he desire, but Mikey would lead with his heart and put that above all else. How Mikey couldn't make the worst choices when it comes down to the wire. Even though Leo secretly figures any of them would lay their own lives on the line than sacrifice one another for the greater good.  
  
He blinked, bringing himself back to the present and out of his thoughts. Leo glanced down to his katana and made a disgruntled sound once he noticed that the marker wasn't coming off as easily as he'd hoped. The black ink smudged, yes, but not enough to be rid of it completely. He grabbed the solution again and dabbed more on the cloth before putting some elbow grease into his task.  
  
His mind started to drift again the moment his door cracked open and, admittedly, Leo wouldn't be surprised if he'd blocked out the inquisitive knocks that happened beforehand. Like a moody, grumpy teenager and not how a rational, reasonable leader would have. Leo even had to squash down a biting comment when he looked up and was extremely glad he'd managed to do such. If only because Mikey was poking his head in and seemed torn between coming in or running back to wherever he'd come from.  
  
Leo took in a slow, cleansing breath as he turned his focus back to his katana. He didn't stop trying to clean the muck off, but his movements were less harsh than before. If Mikey's face had anything to say about it, Leo could only guess that he looked two seconds away from pulling a Raphael.  
  
"Um...Leo?" Mikey drummed his fingers against the door in a nervous fashion and shifted from foot to foot. "You got a minute?"  
  
"What is it, Mikey?"  
  
He lifted his head to watch as Mikey stepped inside and shut the door behind him. Leo furrowed his brow as Mikey looked around, looking as if he hadn't been in Leo's room millions of times before, while moving to stand in front of Leo. It only caused Leo to be further confused once Mikey sat down and crossed his legs as he looked at Leo's katana.  
  
"I'm..." Mikey rose his gaze and placed his hands on his ankles. "I'm sorry about your sword."  
  
Leo blinked and frowned after a moment. "Why are you sorry? You didn't do it."  
  
"Well, no." Mikey ducked his head, cocking it to the side as he shrugged a shoulder. "I just...Raph asked if any of us had a marker and..." He sighed and looked up, his sincerity shining in his eyes alongside how distressed he was over the situation. "I didn't know he was going to do that, I swear."  
  
"How did you know he did something to it?"  
  
There was no way Raph would say anything because even he knew that some things shouldn't be mentioned in front of the others. Especially Master Splinter and Leo knew he hadn't said a word about it to him aside from how much of a failure the lesson was. Then again -  
  
Mikey huffed and narrowed his eyes. "Dude, this is Sensei we're talking about. Of course he knew. He's got some weird sixth sense." He rose one of his hands and wiggled his fingers as if to emphasize his point. "I overheard him talking to Raph about it and I think Raph's on weapon cleaning duty for the next two weeks." Mikey lowered his hand and placed it behind himself as he leaned back. "I mean, sucks to be him, but Donnie and I got in trouble too." He pursed his lips with a noncommittal hum. "I took most of Donnie's blame though because it was my marker."  
  
Leo let go of the rag and set his weapon aside as he ran his eyes over Mikey's face. He noticed that the sincerity and apology had an underlying emotion barely reaching the surface. One that Leo was sure was something akin to shame or anger.  
  
"Why are you telling me this?"  
  
"Because, man, I just..." Mikey crossed his arms and hunched over with a sigh. "It's totally not cool to do that to your weapon, y'know? I'd be really mad if someone did that to my 'chucks." He cast a glance toward Leo's katana and offered up a small, reassuring smile. "All you need is rubbing alcohol to get it off, by the way." Mikey raised his eye ridges and pivoted his head with a genuine smile. "It's a lot easier than wearing yourself out by trying to scrub it off."  
  
Leo turned his focus to his katana and gave a small, "Huh..." in response.  
  
"Oh! And, uh..." Mikey rubbed the back of his neck as he looked anywhere and everywhere that wasn't Leo. An obvious stalling tactic, at that. His nerves obviously becoming a sudden live wire once he realized he had Leo's undivided attention. "If you want - I mean, just -"  
  
" _Mikey_."  
  
"Okay! Jeez! Pressure much?" He shook his head and fiddled with the bindings on his wrist. "I'm just trying to say that, y'know, if you want we could..." Mikey flexed his jaw. "I could train with you. Just the two of us or we can drag the others along. I'm sure Raph feels guilty and Donnie probably won't mind. Just...I don't want you to be sad anymore, Leo." He bit the corner of his lip as he peered up at him. "The lair isn't as fun when you're mad at us or sad."  
  
Leo chuckled. "I'm sure that goes for you, Mikey. Not me."  
  
"That goes for all of us." Mikey puffed out his chest as he straightened his back, as if daring Leo to try to deny it again. He eased up his stiff posture once Leo didn't seem remotely close to arguing and placed a hand on Leo's knee. "I'm serious though, Leo." Mikey pushed to stand and gave a brief pat before removing his hand. "I'll train with you. No questions asked and no complaints."  
  
Leo stared up at him, inquisitive and yet felt a warmth fill his chest at the offer. The fact that Mikey was willing to set aside time, to have one-on-one training with him, was a gift in of itself. As Mikey would typically settle for the allotted time for practice that Splinter had all of them attend before he ran off to do his own thing. Even Donnie had a hard time getting Mikey to train with him outside of practice. It let Leo know that Mikey was being serious about his offer and would do it if it made Leo smile again.  
  
He ducked his head as the corner of his lip turned up. "Thank you, Mikey."  
  
"No problem, bro."

**Author's Note:**

> I remembered reading something quite a while ago saying how Mikey _could_ be the leader if he so desired and, well, kinda decided to nudge it into this fic.


End file.
